Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog - ITEXPO Archivestag:blog.tmcnet.com,2011-06-15:/blog/greg-galitzine//62009-04-28T13:53:38ZVoIP and IMS News and ViewsTMCnet Blogger Family Growstag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.406652009-04-27T15:44:47Z2009-04-28T13:53:38ZToday I'm proud to welcome our latest TMCnet blogger, Chuck Rutledge who will be sharing his insights and opinions via his new "Now Market It" blog. I've known Chuck for over a decade, and he has always been a fantastic resource...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
Today I'm proud to welcome our latest TMCnet blogger, Chuck Rutledge who will be sharing his insights and opinions via his new "Now Market It" blog.

I've known Chuck for over a decade, and he has always been a fantastic resource for articles I was working on and he was always ready to present compelling content at the ITEXPO conferences. Most recently Chuck served as the VP of Corporate Marketing at NET, a leading provider of VoIP equipment to enterprise, service providers and the government, where he joined via the acquisition of Quintum Technologies. Chuck had been VP of Marketing and Business Development with Quintum since the firm's early start-up days.

Today he is Managing Director at Precise Insights, a high tech marketing consulting company.

Please join me in welcoming Chuck to our family of TMCnet bloggers, a family that continues to grow with each passing week. In fact we are fast approaching the 50-contributor milestone on our blogs page.

If you are interested in reaching a diverse, highly technical, highly knowledgeable audience of up to 2 million people per month, drop me a line to ggalitzine (at) tmcnet.com and we can discuss setting up a blog for you too.

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ITEXPO Call for Papers Extended to March 20, 2009tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.398282009-02-19T14:06:10Z2009-02-19T14:07:33ZTMC has just announced that the Call for Papers for the October ITEXPO West has been extended to March 20, 2009. If you are interested in speaking at the event, please submit an abstract to callforpapers@tmcnet.com For details about this opportunity, including...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
TMC has just announced that the Call for Papers for the October ITEXPO West has been extended to March 20, 2009.

For details about this opportunity, including what information is being sought, please visit the official Call for Papers site.

ITEXPO West 2009 will take place in Los Angeles, California, at the LA Convention Center.

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ITEXPO Award Confusiontag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.395062009-02-09T20:01:27Z2009-02-09T20:04:31ZAt ITEXPO, the editorial team was tasked with many assignments, but perhaps the most gratifying of all the items that appears on our collective "to-do" list is rewarding deserving companies with the best of show awards. One particular award seems to...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/At ITEXPO, the editorial team was tasked with many assignments, but perhaps the most gratifying of all the items that appears on our collective "to-do" list is rewarding deserving companies with the best of show awards.

One particular award seems to have raised a bit of a "stink" in the blogosphere.

At the most recent ITEXPO, Interactive Intelligence was awarded a best of show award in the SMB category, which on the surface may seem like an odd thing to do, considering the company's Enterprise Interaction Center solution is geared to companies that employ at a minimum 100 people.

There is no question that the solution deserves praise and in fact Interactive Intelligence has received much acclaim for their products over the years.

Perhaps, the issue at hand is really one of proper designation.

While small and medium business, or SMB, generally implies companies on the smaller end of the spectrum, we often tend to forget the "M" or mid-size group of businesses.

Most accepted definitions of SMB center around the following breakdown:

·0-10 employees = SOHO

·10-50 employees = Small business

·50-250 employees = Medium business

·250 and up = large enterprise.

Depending on revenues, some analysts extend the medium sized group out to 500 employees.

So it's clear that Interactive Intelligence serves the M in SMB with their EIC product.

On the application that Interactive Intelligence submitted for best of show as well as on their Web site, the company claims their solution offers support for:

...100 to 15,000 users with a single all-software, SIP-based IP PBX application suite that easily integrates with your existing business applications.

They also claim:

The all-in-one EIC platform is built to give your mid-sized business a total IP PBX solution for multi-channel communications, business processes, contact center operations, and optimum performance from your employees, all to offer superior service for your customers.

Still, with the growing acceptance (rightly or wrongly) of SMB being defined with a focus on the small, I can understand the confusion associated with awarding a vendor that primarily serves large enterprise and contact center customers with a plaque reading SMB. However until such time as we come up with a category that specifically addresses the M in SMB, this label will have to apply.

The reaction simply underscores the importance of the various TMC award programs and the fact that people do ascribe value to being named an award winner.

Congratulations again to all the award winners and I look forward to seeing you all in Los Angeles, CA from October 27-29 when we once again will award the best of show awards, at the next ITEXPO.

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See You in Los Angeles!tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.394442009-02-04T20:23:44Z2009-02-04T20:26:55ZThe show's over. And what a show it was! The picture shows some activity still going on in the exhibit hall, an hour after the show officially closed. As vendors try to break down their booths and go back to their usual...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
The show's over. And what a show it was!

The picture shows some activity still going on in the exhibit hall, an hour after the show officially closed.

As vendors try to break down their booths and go back to their usual routine, attendees are still trying to get as much information -- and possibly cut a deal or two -- before they get shooed out of the hall for good.

The conferences, the exhibits, the keynotes... it was a great week in Miami.

Our next show is being held in Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center, October 27-29, 2009

For anyone interested in speaking opportunities we are still accepting submissions for INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO West 2009.

See you in LA!

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ITEXPO Best of Show Winners (pre)Announcedtag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.394332009-02-04T04:44:19Z2009-02-04T04:47:43ZExpect the official press release to hit the wires in the morning...One of the most gratifying things I get to do as editorial director is work with my team of editors to select the most exciting emerging products and solutions. At...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
Expect the official press release to hit the wires in the morning...

One of the most gratifying things I get to do as editorial director is work with my team of editors to select the most exciting emerging products and solutions.

At the ITEXPO events, that process culminates in selecting our Best of Show winners in various categories representing the breadth of exhibitors who are showing their wares at the show.

The following companies and their products were named ITEXPO East's "Best of Show" in the following categories:

Best Service Provider Solution:

DalCom Telecom

IntelePeer

PhoenixSoft

VoltDelta

Best Large Enterprise Solution:

Aculab

IndustryDynamics

Phybridge

Best SMB Solution:

Allworx

Interactive Intelligence

ITS Telecom

Quanta Syspine

Best Consumer Offering:

Grandstream

Telefonica

Best Development Tool:

Pronexus

Sangoma

Touchstone Technologies

Most Innovative Product:

8x8

Digium

SIP Print

Soundwin Network

Best Booth:

Digium

STS

VoltDelta

Best Onsite Product Launch:

Citel

TelcoBridges

TELES USA/New World Brands

Xorcom

Best of Open Source:

Contact Q/Braxtel

Critical Links

Freeside Internet Services

Presence Technologies

Editors' Choice:

Adtran

Cbeyond

NET Quintum

Congratulations to all the award winners! Stop by and see these and other innovative companies on Wednesdsay February 4th - the final day of ITEXPO - between 11:00-2:30.

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ITEXPO Day Two: Recaptag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.394322009-02-04T04:21:43Z2009-02-04T04:23:13ZDay 2 came to a close on a high note! The Ontario Canada delegation hosted a terrific party/reception for the ITEXPO attendees and it was a huge hit. The reception was yet another great opportunity for networking, which has become...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
Day 2 came to a close on a high note! The Ontario Canada delegation hosted a terrific party/reception for the ITEXPO attendees and it was a huge hit. The reception was yet another great opportunity for networking, which has become a hallmark of this event.

Today saw the keynote presentations from John Frederiksen of Microsoft and Danny Windham of Digium as well as a service provider panel -- the room for both the panel and the keynotes was truly standing room only.

Today saw an Exhibit Hall that was full of quality attendees visiting with exhibitors and making deals on the show floor.

Speaking of Digium and open source in general, one of the trends emerging at this show is that open source-based solutions are emerging as a great alternative for companies that are looking to a.) deploy advanced communications solutions and b.) save money while reaping the benefits if IP communications.

In addition to Asterisk creator and open source market leader Digium, 15 partners make up the Digium|Asterisk pavilion and all of these innovative companies are helping to drive this next-generation of communications solutions.

The Exhibit Hall ends tomorrow at 2:30pm and there will be a car giveaway just before the close of the Hall at 2:20pm. That's right... ITEXPO sponsors are giving away a brand-new Jeep, so in addition to the great opportunities to check out the money-saving opportunities on the show floor, you can drive away in a new car if you enter the drawing for the Jeep.

For more details come to the Miami Beach Convention Center by 11 am for the opening of the Exhibit Hall or visit the ITEXPO event site.

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ITEXPO Day Two: Early Sessionstag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.394122009-02-03T14:46:42Z2009-02-03T14:47:34ZDay 2 of ITEXPO has begun. I'm the keynote room listening to a fascinating Service Provider roundtable, together with several hundred of my conference-going colleagues. The panel consists of speakers from Broadvox, 8x8, inPhonex, Magic jack, Telefonica and tw telecom, and it's...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
Day 2 of ITEXPO has begun.

I'm the keynote room listening to a fascinating Service Provider roundtable, together with several hundred of my conference-going colleagues.

The panel is addressing the various issues that are affecting today's Service Providers, ranging from legal and regulatory to deployment challenges and financial regulations.

I'm looking forward to the keynotes later this morning from Microsoft and Digium.

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Digium|Asterisk World Sessiontag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.393952009-02-02T19:45:58Z2009-02-02T19:47:04ZI sat in on one of the Digium |Asterisk sessions this afternoon, and it was a very informative discussion of Asterisk and its benefits for enterprises and contact centers. The presenter, Matthew Nickash, who is simultaneously the Manager of Information Technology...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
I sat in on one of the Digium |Asterisk sessions this afternoon, and it was a very informative discussion of Asterisk and its benefits for enterprises and contact centers.

The presenter, Matthew Nickash, who is simultaneously the Manager of Information Technology at insurance firm Richgels/Schaefer as well as an independent consultant addressed a number of issues including the software's scalability, issues of interoperability, and other issues.

He also touched on one of the significant new features of Asterisk that enables multiple systems to communicate with each other, peering transparently to allow for more simple management of multiple Asterisk-based systems. Nickash said that Asterisk allows system administrators to easily interconnect systems and maintain a friendly user interface even in organizations of up to 10,000 people.

This capability is also present in the new version of Switchvox SMB 4.0 that was announced earlier today.

One of the hallmarks of Asterisk is the community, and Nickash spoke of the community's ability to serve as a wide reaching support network help solve a user's implementation or usage issues, by providing a forum at Asterisk.org.

Of course the conversation touched on the cost savings and TCO (total cost of ownership) advantages proffered by Asterisk.

The session ended with a lively Q&A period, with a number of questions relating to contact center deployments and the benefits of using an Asterisk based system.

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More Images from Miamitag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.393792009-02-02T13:31:15Z2009-02-02T13:42:21ZA few more pictures from ITEXPO/ Miami. We had a Super Bowl viewing party last night (see more pics on Rich's blog here and here) - In the daytime, the ocean view was amazing, but as darkness fell the game took...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
A few more pictures from ITEXPO/ Miami. We had a Super Bowl viewing party last night (see more pics on Rich's blog here and here) - In the daytime, the ocean view was amazing, but as darkness fell the game took center stage.

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Digium|Asterisk World Set to Shine in Miamitag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.393622009-02-01T15:03:35Z2009-02-01T15:05:55ZOpen source is really all the rage these days in IP Communications. In fact, a recent report from Eastern Management Group puts the Open Source PBX market share at 18% - not bad when you consider the incumbent companies and...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
Open source is really all the rage these days in IP Communications. In fact, a recent report from Eastern Management Group puts the Open Source PBX market share at 18% - not bad when you consider the incumbent companies and technologies that are being displaced.

Companies such as Digum, Fonality, Sangoma, and others are considered to be the leaders in the open source space, and all these companies will be in attendance at ITEXPO, which starts tomorrow.

In addition to educational seminars and training sessions on how to use, deploy, manage, etc... an open source PBX, one of the key open source attractions at the event will be Digium|Asterisk World.

The first ever Asterisk event focused purely on Asterisk for business, Digium|Asterisk World is "Everything Asterisk" for the business user, reseller, and executive decision maker.

The following partners will be exhibiting alongside Digium in the Digium|Asterisk World pavilion:

·AG Projects

·Asteria Solutions Group

·Camrivox

·ContactQ (Braxtel Communications)

·FreeSide

·High Powered Help

·Infradapt

·Interlink Communication Systems

·Net2phone

·openLINE Networks

·Orecx

·Presence Technology

·Transnexus

·VoicePulse

·Xorcom

Digium|Asterisk World promises to be one of the highlights of the overall ITEXPO event taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center tomorrow through Wednesday.

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Early ITEXPO Shotstag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.393612009-02-01T14:36:33Z2009-02-01T14:40:11ZI'm in Miami with the team ahead of ITEXPO, and things are progressing beautifully. Preparations are being completed, and we're looking forward to the opening of the show tomorrow. For those of you who have never been to a trade show...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
I'm in Miami with the team ahead of ITEXPO, and things are progressing beautifully. Preparations are being completed, and we're looking forward to the opening of the show tomorrow.

For those of you who have never been to a trade show before the official opening, I thought you might like to see what the exhibit hall looks like in the days leading up to the show.

Here's a couple of shots showing the work in progress.

It'll be a different story tomorrow at 5:45pm in the Miami Beach Convention Center when the crowds of exhibitors and attendees start their business of meeting and seeking out the latest IP communications solutions.

ITEXPO is in town through Wednesday February 4, so come on down to the Miami Beach Convention Center and be a part of the action.

The complete schedule of the events taking place at ITEXPO this week can be found by clicking over to the ITEXPO show site.

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The Bell Has NOT Rung on WiMAXtag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.393482009-01-30T22:08:34Z2009-01-30T22:10:58ZSo there's been quite a bit of buzz this past few weeks about the potential demise of WiMAX. First Nokia stopped production of their WiMAX device, then there was some news about Intel writing off their entire investment in the venture...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
So there's been quite a bit of buzz this past few weeks about the potential demise of WiMAX.

First Nokia stopped production of their WiMAX device, then there was some news about Intel writing off their entire investment in the venture with Clearwire... It was covered all over TMCnet, but Rich summed it up nicely in his post: The Trillion Dollar Question - Is WiMAX Dying?

Now, LTE has its proponents and WiMAX has its detractors, but Carl Ford, writing on the 4GWE blog points out the following:

While many want me to point to LTE as the clear winner, I don't think this would be a sign of WiMAX's apocalypse. I instead see this as a prudent move on Nortel's part to emphasize the pieces of the solutions they own. Partnerships in Telecom are pretty easily forced by the carriers, and the real story is that no carrier is forcing Nortel to support WiMAX.

This maybe proof that WiMAX is in trouble, but it's more likely proof that the legacy Nortel customers are not looking for Nortel to go into new areas with them.

So I asked Scenna Tabesh, director of marketing communications for the WiMAX Forum, for some insight into the Nortel situation as well as the future co-existence of the two 4G approaches, LTE and WiMAX. Tabesh's thoughts appear in italics:

What does it mean to the WiMAX community that Nortel is reportedly jettisoning its Alvarion-based WiMAX offering?

No one is immunized from the global financial crisis. While the WiMAX industry anticipates a slowdown in general, WiMAX Forum still believes that at least 100 more WiMAX operators will launch commercial services in 2009. This number was expected to be higher; however, the market turmoil caused investors to become more cautious and focus on tighter risk management. Despite a tightening in investment, companies with sound business models and proven technologies, such as WiMAX, will still obtain funding during this challenging time. Meantime, we continue to be encouraged by the fact that the WiMAX industry has been growing at a reasonable pace since 2007. Toward this end, there were about 200 WiMAX networks deployed in 2008 alone. WiMAX Forum leadership surrounding the evolution of technology standards and introduction of Mobile WiMAX Certified products are on track, with the active support of the global telecommunications/wireless ecosystem.

Is there room in the market for two competing technologies (LTE & WiMAX)?

The WiMAX Forum believes the two technologies will co-exist. WiMAX is included in the IMT-2000 family of mobile wireless interface standards and is supported by a broad, open and innovative ecosystem including more than 500 member companies in the WiMAX Forum. This open ecosystem is one of the many strengths of WiMAX - it brings the flexibility of the computing industry model to the mobile world. This includes an open IPR model led by the Open Patent Alliance. Toward this end, WiMAX has already established itself in the 3.5 GHz band with deployments in every region. This is in addition to large 2.5 GHz deployments in major markets such as the US, Japan, and India. As an established technology - WiMAX is here now. There are 407 WiMAX deployments in 133 countries, over 480 WiMAX-enabled devices in development by over 80 suppliers, and there are more major WiMAX spectrum auctions on the horizon (India, Argentina, the UK, etc.).

Conversely, LTE currently has zero deployments. While marketed as an "evolution," LTE networks are a completely new upgrade. They require new infrastructure and new spectrum. While WiMAX is already in deployment, new spectrum or the re-farming of wide swaths of 2G spectrum will be necessary to free up spectrum to deploy LTE and take advantage of the wider channel bandwidths that are supported. LTE will also take time to roll out, with deployments forecast to reach limited adoption by 2012. LTE networks will require new client devices and service providers will need to purchase new radio access network (RAN) equipment in addition to upgrading their core networks to handle additional IP-based traffic.

The bottom line is this - it's still too early to bury the survivors so to speak. This market is just now getting its legs, it's early days for certain. It's a time for competing technologies, and for vendors to make and break alliances. It's that exciting time where everything is possible and yet we need to proceed cautiously.

If you're new to this market -- and most everyone is -- it makes sense to find a good source of education, to get a better understanding of the trends, vendors, politics... etc... that are driving this market today and will in the end determine the eventual "winners."

That education is available at the 4GWE Conference, which is taking place in Miami Beach next week (February 2-4) in Miami Beach.

The Dialexia-Sangoma partnership will enable enterprise customers to easily deploy the Dialexia Dial-Office all-in-one, SIP-based IP PBX and interconnect their IP Telephony with the PSTN.

Sangoma is a Gold sponsor of the upcoming ITEXPO, which kicks off in Miami Beach in just five days. Makes sense on so many levels. In addition to the obvious IP Communications hook, it's generally colder in Canada than it is in Miami Beach this time of year... Montreal = 12⁰ ... Toronto = 20⁰ ... Miami Beach = 80⁰

I can't wait!

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SIP Trunking Podcast: Avaya's Alan Kleintag:blog.tmcnet.com,2009:/blog/greg-galitzine//6.392462009-01-26T13:00:30Z2009-01-26T13:02:11ZWith only one week to go before ITEXPO, it's an exciting time as we make the final preparations ahead of "The World's Communications Conference." One of the elements of the show that has been very successful in the past is the...Greg Galitzinehttp://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/
With only one week to go before ITEXPO, it's an exciting time as we make the final preparations ahead of "The World's Communications Conference."

One of the elements of the show that has been very successful in the past is the SIP Trunking seminar, organized by Ingate Systems with sponsorship from the likes of Avaya, BandTel and others. The seminar is taking place at this year's ITEXPO as well.

Last week we ran a couple of interviews with BandTel's Joel Maloff, including a Q&A and a podcast.